Shadow BFA Datamining

[Deleted]

damn those changes look promising, i am looking forward to this patch. if the numbers are not to bad this could make shadow more viable in m+.

[cafecito820]

damn those changes look promising, i am looking forward to this patch. if the numbers are not to bad this could make shadow more viable in m+.

And we'll still get passed over for players with combat rez or bloodlust/heroism.

[Deleted]

And we'll still get passed over for players with combat rez or bloodlust/heroism.

Ok we have a 15% stamina buff (not bad, 15% is a live or die situation) and VE in 1.15 sec CD can be a life saviour , assuming you have good damage.
And you don't need 2 TW/hero/BL players in the same party...They brought a limit to BRs as well... and you can always carry drums . They don't give 15% more HP and on demand strong healing CD. Always assuming we would bring good damage... if we won't that should be an issue to pass us over for other specs in general.

[Priority]

These changes look bad. I am guessing they want the player base to explore more of the talent trees but some of these changes... Shadow dps depends greatly the execute phase of fights. Depending on how they balance shadow overall dps, I would be interested to see how shadow would perform without either SW : D or Twist of Fate selected. Shadow will have to swap talents more depending on multi-dot vs single target. I am not sure if that is good or bad.

There is not much in these changes that would make me want to have a shadow priest over a warlock. These changes are far from promising.

[Charo]

not seeing 2 charges of mind blast on the very first build is pretty sad. it should have been the very first thing they changed when looking at shadow for 8.0. pretty bad sign for the future of spec

Look at SW:V, row 1, col 3, it replaces Mind Blast, does more damage than Mind Blast, has 3 charges. That is your belt baked into the spec. You can choose to have the current belt playstyle or you can choose from one of the other two options.

[Fleckens]

Look at SW:V, row 1, col 3, it replaces Mind Blast, does more damage than Mind Blast, has 3 charges. That is your belt baked into the spec. You can choose to have the current belt playstyle or you can choose from one of the other two options.

Lets be real, you will pick what is the best choice so if it's not the strongest talent you will simply not take it, that's why it would have been much better baseline.

[aemaet]

Why the fuck SWSmileyface is a talent now? What is the reasoning behind this?

[zito]

Why the fuck SWSmileyface is a talent now? What is the reasoning behind this?

I'm assuming it has to do with their new initiative of choosing talents based on your playstyle rather than the best one per fight. Problem with the priests case is that they removed skills and put them as talents and gave us nothing in return besides mind seer. Making the current playstyle garbage.

[Ambereldus]

I can actually see this as an opportunity to push two very different playstyles. First being the classic execute-heavy Shadow we've all come to love/hate where we stack multipliers until purple-in-the-face, and the second being a more front-loaded Shadow that forgoes execute dmg for higher mid-fight dps through passive dmg amplifiers.

If Blizz balances this right (-cough-) by pulling some focus away from the execute phase, this could actually be a really good thing for the spec since it could give us valid options for dungeons and world content where execute dmg isn't nearly as useful.

I...have doubts. Many. But I can be hopeful they'll listen to us this time...right?

[RsinRC]

I can actually see this as an opportunity to push two very different playstyles. First being the classic execute-heavy Shadow we've all come to love/hate where we stack multipliers until purple-in-the-face, and the second being a more front-loaded Shadow that forgoes execute dmg for higher mid-fight dps through passive dmg amplifiers.

If Blizz balances this right (-cough-) by pulling some focus away from the execute phase, this could actually be a really good thing for the spec since it could give us valid options for dungeons and world content where execute dmg isn't nearly as useful.

I...have doubts. Many. But I can be hopeful they'll listen to us this time...right?

Too bad ToF still exists. Also I haven't seen anything pointing to this direction now that SWD is a talent. Secondly, we've always been an execute spec baseline.

- - - Updated - - -

So many things that stacked against us in Legion with us trying to give feedback during legion's beta but almost nothing changed till all the shit hit the fan instead of listening to feedback.

This time around we are asking for interesting talent choices like so many other classes have that make their spec awesome. So far I've been shown a total of 3 talents out of 21 that add uniqueness to the spec while the other 18 talents simply add an extra effect but still keep our spells totally passive.

We have the void surging through us yet our main mobility spell is tied with disc's shield. We have Void Eruption at level 12 yet now only 1 talent that affects it. We still have ToF as a talent when historically it's always been #1 and doesn't add anything to the spec except sniping targets at <35% for the buff and it competes with Shadow Crash which is 1 of the 3 talents that adds variety to the spec and Auspicious Spirits that also changes our playstyle by letting us stay in VF longer in Multi target fights.
They added Void Torrent to our 100 talent row which might sound interesting if it weren't for the fact that the other 2 talents are HUGE players in making shadow play differently. BfA Void Torrent baseline hits as hard as 1 SWD but over 4 seconds.

I can say though that I'm super glad Void Ray and Dominate Mind are out! They def are a problem making our talents feel so restricting.
IMO They should have 1 more ability that replaces a current spell, Void Torrent replacing SWD and Shadow Crash replacing Misery while having the 75 row be all about Void Eruption being tied to different playstyles.

[Rhaxus]

should tof not lose quite a lot of potential with our voidform haste reduced and no mass hysteria?

[RsinRC]

should tof not lose quite a lot of potential with our voidform haste reduced and no mass hysteria?

It's a 15% free increased damage to everything. It's like Savage Roar dominating Feral until it got seriously nerfed and the spec fully buffed.

[Deleted]

I actually like the fact that possibly Shadow Word: Death will be gone. Playing whackamole with low-health adds is not very fun.

[Yvaelle]

If I could propose a simple design for BFA I'd say:

General changes:
- Mastery increases periodic damage by X% (no longer affects void bolt)
- Voidform is a talent (see below)
- Insanity caps at 120

15 - Procs:
Shadow Word: Death - 1 charge, deals massive damage to targets below 20% of their max HP
Shadowy Insight - Shadow Word: Pain periodic damage has a chance to give you an additional charge of Mind Blast which is an instant cast
Call of the Void - Mind Flay & Mind Sear damage has a chance to summon a Void Tendril which channels Mind Flay at your target

30 - Survivability:
Body & Soul - 40% run speed during Power Word: Shield
Sanlayn - Gain 10% Leech at all times, and reduces the cooldown of Vampiric Embrace by 60 seconds
Reborn - When you take fatal damage, you instead automatically trigger Dispersion for 2 seconds and regenerate 20% max HP. 5 minute cooldown.

45 - AOE:
Dark Void - Void Eruption applies Shadow Word: Pain to all targets hit
Misery - Vampiric Touch also applies Shadow Word: Pain
Shadow Crash - 3 charges, gain a charge every 20 seconds, deals massive damage in an 8 yard area after 2 seconds

60 CC:
Psychic Horror - 45s cooldown, 4 second stun
Last Word - reduces the cooldown on Silence by 15 seconds
Void Tendrils - 30s cooldown, Shadowy Tendrils root nearby enemies

75 Cooldowns:
Mindbender - replaces Shadowfiend, 1m cooldown, 10s duration, channels Void Ray at your target, dealing progressively more single target damage with each tick and generating Insanity
Dark Archangel - 2m cooldown, Instantly applies Vampiric Touch and Shadow Word: Pain, and increases your Mastery by 50% for 20 seconds
Surrender 2 Madness - 4m cooldown, 1m duration, increases insanity generation by 100% and allows you to cast while moving, then deals 90% of max hp and prevents insanity generation for 30 seconds

90 - Buffs:
Auspicious Spirits - Your spirits deal 100% increased damage and generate 2 Insanity
Twist of Fate - After damaging a target below 35% health, gain 15% increased damage for 15 seconds
Initiation - Critical strike chance increased by 30% on targets above 80% health

105 - Finishing Moves:
Devouring Plague - costs 60 Insanity, lasts 10 seconds, deals periodic damage each second, and heals the spriest for 3% of max HP each time it deals damage
Void Torrent - costs 50 Insanity, channel for 4 seconds to deal massive single target damage
Voidform - costs 100 insanity, increases all Shadow damage and grants access to Void Bolt while Insanity is maintained

[zito]

Last word seems extremely useless to me. Am I missing something? Why would I pick a minor CD reduction for a silence when I could just pick another CC?

[Yvaelle]

Last word seems extremely useless to me. Am I missing something? Why would I pick a minor CD reduction for a silence when I could just pick another CC?

Depends what you are doing right? Lots of times all I want is an interrupt anyways (ex. boss fights) - because stuns and roots and fears are all useless anyways - but watching that KillsYou spell go through because Silence is on cooldown sucks.

Edit:

But yea, for Arenas - you would just take Psychic Horror like everytime - even against all enemy casters - because you could Horror->Silence the healer all by yourself

[davesignal]

Last word seems extremely useless to me. Am I missing something? Why would I pick a minor CD reduction for a silence when I could just pick another CC?

You take Last Word when the rogue and shaman are too busy being idiots to press their kick button and you've gotta do something to keep the raid from wiping to interruptable gimmicks.

[Triggered Fridgekin]

Some of you are taking early alpha notes way too serious. Save that anger when we're deep in beta when Blizzard falls asleep at the wheel.

[RsinRC]

I actually like the fact that possibly Shadow Word: Death will be gone. Playing whackamole with low-health adds is not very fun.

Thats a possibility but you will always want to use a gcd to get a ToF proc and naturally it'll be SWP. I like that I can use an ability that does good damage and give me a chunk of insanity, a worthy use of a gcd.

[Selky]

A good start, I was hoping the changes would be more drastic like the Survival changes but there's still plenty of time. The only thing I find really alarming is them trying to keep Surrender to Madness instead of just removing it.